Once You See Something, You Can't Unsee It
by Vicious Ventriloquist
Summary: In which Sougo snoops through Hijikata's phone, only to stumble across a set of pictures that end up causing him far more turmoil than he had bargained for. "His mischievous side now fully renewed, the sadist clicked on the photo gallery, waiting in anticipation for it to load before the screen revealed—China?" OkiKagu. Prequel to "A Stalker's Love Isn't Always Unrequited."


**Hello! This is a primarily OkiKagu fic with some HijiKagu undertones, though those are largely subject to interpretation. This is originally from an old tumblr prompt from Okikagu-prompts's blog, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm not sure if anyone has done the same thing before (I would assume so) but I thought I'd add my own fic to the archive anyway. I hope you guys like it!**

 **I'll most likely add more stories for these guys in the future, and I'll happily consider any suggestions you have!**

* * *

"I'm going to go buy a pack of cigarettes."

Sougo's ears pricked up. From where he lounged on one of the many porches of the Shinsengumi compound, he heard Hijikata get to his feet, a long-winded sigh escaping the elder man's mouth as he stretched luxuriously.

"Make sure you die on your way, Hijikata-san," Sougo responded dryly.

The demon Vice-Chief gave a noncommittal grunt as his footsteps disappeared down the hall; they were barely audible as it was over the sound of Kondo snoring on the other side of the room.

As soon as Hijikata was gone, Sougo yawned and leaned back against the wooden floor, pulling his sleeping mask over his eyes. A cool breeze blew against his face, flooding the open room with fresh air the likes of which he tended to forget when in the nicotine addict's presence as frequently as he was. Hell, even that didn't bother him much right now; rarely did the three of them—he, Kondo, and Hijibaka—ever get the same day off, and even if he had spent most of it relaxing in the latter's company he could still appreciate a moment of peace when he found it.

Then again, Okita Sougo was hardly the type to stay cooped up indoors for any length of time. Maybe he should go out on the town for the rest of the afternoon, harass some punks, or…

Or maybe find some redheaded China girl to pick a fight with.

Honestly, the third prospect sounded much more appealing to him than breathing in Hijikata's cigarette smoke for the next few hours, and on top of that, he hadn't been seeing much of his favored rival lately. It seemed that all three Yorozuya members were busy lately—too busy to deal with the Shinsengumi, and by extension, too busy to allow him some time to mess with their only female member.

Of course, that didn't mean he was barred from going out and messing with her by his own agency. It's not like he'd be neglecting work (though, if he were being honest, it wasn't as though he didn't do that on occasion anyway).

 _I guess instigating her a bit wouldn't hurt—it's been a while since we had a good fight, anyway_. The sadistic side of him lit up in excitement, and Sougo released a tiny snicker before reaching up to remove the sleeping mask.

But before he could leave with his sword in tow, a faint buzzing sound made itself known beneath the outlandish rumble of Kondo's snores. Giving the area a once-over, Sougo saw that it was coming from the cell phone lying on the room's only table.

 _Aw, Hijikata-san forgot his cell phone. How irresponsible—what if there was an emergency while he was out?_ His inner self rubbed his hands together in glee; thinking that he could always blackmail the Vice-Chief if the messenger had sent him something questionable—or at least chastise him for his negligence—Sougo picked up the device and began looking through it.

 _Che, just a text from Yamazaki about some surveillance reports. How boring_. Slightly deflated at the fact that it hadn't been anything interesting (and making a mental note to torment Yamazaki later), Sougo was about to embark on his journey to find China when another icon in the phone's menu screen grabbed his attention.

 _Pictures, eh? Let's see if he's got anything interesting to see in here_ … His mischievous side now fully renewed, the sadist clicked on the photo gallery, waiting in anticipation for it to load before the screen revealed—

 _China?_

He blinked a few times, his brow furrowed in confusion as he attempted to digest the contents of the only photos Hijikata had on his phone. There were around twenty of them, and all of them—and he meant _all_ —were of the China girl.

 _What the hell?_

He clicked through them one by one, each successive photo making him even more thoroughly confused (and slightly disturbed) than the last. Each one featured the girl in her usual red outfit, and they had obviously been taken in the Yorozuya's office, based on the look of the background. In every one, the young woman's face had a light blush to it, her expression sheepish and betraying how flustered (and flattered?) she clearly was by the camera's attention.

And the worst part of all the photos, the part that almost made Sougo feel physically ill, was that it looked as though she had _voluntarily posed_ for them. Sure, she was quite blatantly embarrassed and shy (a side of her that he had rarely, if ever, seen), but the images conveyed a sense of self-restriction and control that showed clearly in the way she stood, arms folded behind her back, against the wall.

And that begged the question— _why_? Why had she agreed to let Hijikata, the demon Vice-Chief of the Shinsengumi, take pictures of her?

And, more importantly, why had that idiot wanted to take pictures of her in the first place?! He was a grown man! What business did he have taking pictures of teenagers, especially ones that Sougo had already pinpointed as _his_ rival?!

He was broken out of his internal tirade by the pain in his hand; he had been gripping the phone so tightly that it had begun to dig into the flesh, and in response Sougo tried to take a deep breath and lower the heat in his face. He promptly went through the ones he had seen already and began deleting them one by one, feeling a sick sense of satisfaction every time the trashcan icon filled the screen. Refocusing his eyes, he resumed looking at the rest of the photos and deleting them; he hadn't yet finished looking through all of them, and though it was a slim chance, he entertained the possibility that one of the later ones might hold an explanation for this bizarre circumstance.

Unfortunately for his sanity, that hope quickly flew out the window once he realized that the rest of them followed a similar pattern; the only noticeable differences he could pinpoint were the angles and distance each picture had been taken at.

That is, all except for one: the last one.

As soon as he saw it, Sougo's finger froze, hovering hesitantly over the "delete" button. This picture was visibly distinct from the rest, and in such a way that made the young man's breath catch in his throat.

Unlike all the rest in which the China girl had been glancing away from the camera, with her body looking stiff and poised…in this one, she was actually staring directly at it, her bright blue eyes partially lidded as though she hadn't known the camera had gone off at that moment. Her posture was similarly relaxed; her shoulders were bent forward, and her arms were held loosely as though she were going for a leisurely stroll. Her mouth was upturned into a small smile, but one that looked unmistakably genuine with her uncharacteristically reserved expression.

It was an expression he himself had never seen on her in person—but one that, he realized with a heavy knot in his chest, seemed to grab his attention in a way that was both confounding and somehow…appealing. It felt as though she were looking at him through the camera, as though she were giving him that smile as a form of greeting rather than in the violent way she usually did when they met.

And, even though his mind kept telling him to go through with it, he found his finger unable to press down on the "delete" button. This was one picture of her that, for some reason, he didn't feel right with deleting.

But then he remembered whose phone the picture was on, and with a resurgence of anger, Sougo began imagining several new ways to maim and/or severely injure Hijikata.

But still, he didn't delete the photo. Instead, in an action that surely promised several weeks' worth of internal conflict, Sougo did something else: he selected the "send to" option in the upper corner of the screen, picked his own name from Hijikata's contacts list, and before he consciously realized what he had done, pressed "send."

He felt his own phone buzz in his pocket, but he ignored it for the moment as he finally pressed the "delete" option on Hijikata's. His entire body seemed to sigh in relief as he placed his superior's phone back where he had found it and retrieved his own from his pocket.

He looked at the photo message he had sent himself, and though he didn't notice it, anyone else observing the sandy-haired man at that moment would have raised their brows at the small, contented smile on his face.

But that was a problem for another day.

Suddenly feeling exhausted from his long day of doing nothing, Sougo left the room and headed to his own quarters, intent on spending the rest of the afternoon in bed contrary to his original plans.

After all, he had a lot to think about.

* * *

"Oi, Sougo…"

"Ne, Hijikata-san? What is it?"

Sougo glanced over at his superior; the two of them, to both of their chagrin, had been assigned to patrol Edo together for the evening, though their unusually calm surroundings had led to them mostly meandering around with no sense of purpose for the last half hour. At some point, Hijikata had started scrolling through his phone while Sougo busied himself with relaxing on a nearby bench, but now the former was staring at the device in his hand with an almost upset expression.

"Say…" the older man began nervously, "you wouldn't have happened to…use my phone lately, have you?"

Remembering (though it had never really left his mind to begin with) his discovery from four days ago, Sougo tried to keep the annoyance off of his face. (Evidently, he hadn't resolved any of his… _issues_ regarding Hijikata's secret.) "No, why? Someone send a text they weren't supposed to?"

He thought he might have been imagining it, given his paranoia, but Sougo swore he saw Hijikata's cheeks darken a shade before he shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing. Forget I said anything, okay?" The harsh gaze sent his way was enough to convince Sougo not to pry any further, though inside he reveled in making his nemesis uncomfortable.

Well, even if the thought of Hijikata taking pictures of China— _Kagura_ , his mind reminded him—pissed him off for reasons currently unknown, he could at least take comfort in the fact that he now had the perfect blackmail.

And, on top of that, his phone's new wallpaper wasn't so bad either—and the best part was that you needed to enter the passcode in order to see it. He wasn't like Hijikata. He could keep his personal thoughts to himself.

At least, for now.

* * *

 **So, just a side note: this is based on the events of the Shinsengumi Crisis arc in which Hijikata takes pictures of Kagura's "cosplay." I believe he used an actual camera to take the photos, but for the purpose of this story you may assume that he either used his phone instead or downloaded the photos to his cell phone for...reasons. Whatever you prefer :)**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!**

 **-Vicious Ventriloquist**


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